Are you ready for some (NFL) football!?!?

The 2012 National Football League season kicks off tonight from MetLife Stadium when the Dallas Cowboys travel to do battle with the New York Giants. (Link)

The Giants’ roster actually features three former NC State Wolfpackers, tied with the Seattle Seahawks for the most in the NFL.

Markus Kuhn who was drafted in the seventh-round last season has made the team’s final roster, in part due to yet another injury to former UNC defensive lineman, Starvin Marvin Austin.

Sean Locklear has joined the Giants after spending seven seasons playing offensive line with the Seattle Seahawks and last year with the Washington Redskins.

Andre Brown is back in New York where he started his career. Â Brown enters his 4th season as the Giants’ 4th string running back.

Speaking of Dallas, just today Forbes magazine announced that the Cowboys have retained their title as “The Most Valuable Team” in the NFL for the 6th consecutive year.

The Dallas Cowboys are the first North American sports franchise worth over $2 billion and remained the most valuable NFL team for a sixth consecutive year, according to an annual survey released by Forbes on Wednesday.

The Cowboys have failed to make the National Football League (NFL) playoffs for two straight seasons but their value rose to $2.10 billion, a 14 percent jump from last year and nearly double the league average of $1.11 billion.

Forbes said the average value of the NFL’s 32 teams rose seven percent from last year because of new television deals, a new labor agreement and higher premium seating revenue.

All told, NC State has nineteen alums currently listed on NFL rosters. Pack Pride ran a little summary of each NFL Wolfpacker that can be seen by clicking here. Other than the obvious interest that the whole country seems to have in Russell Wilson’s rise to rookie starting quarterback in Seattle, I think I am most personally interested in the move that Mario Williams made in the off-season to Buffalo.

Williams, a two-time Pro Bowl starter and six-year member of the Houston Texans, is set for a new beginning in his first season as a member of the Buffalo Bills, after signing one of the richest contracts given to a defensive player in NFL history â€“ a six year deal that could be worth $100M. Williams was shifted to an outside linebacker position last season in Houston, but the Bills have reverted him back to his original position as one of the leagueâ€™s best pass-rushing defensive ends. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft has 241 total tackles, 53 sacks and 11 forced fumbles for his career.

Before you go I ask you to please click here and log your NFL predictions for the season. It will be fun to come back to the thread at the end of the year and see how everyone did. And, lastly, I leave you with something that is of the utmost importance when thinking about the 2012 NFL season — a link to Sports Illustrated‘s Broadcasting Guide!

ESPN’s Monday Night Football was the most-watched series on cable for the sixth straight year, with an average of 13.3 million viewers.

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12 Responses to Are you ready for some (NFL) football!?!?

I heard RW get some more love this morning on (I believe) Scott van Pelt’s show. And the guy mentioned NC State. I’m looking forward to Sept 24 when my Packers play Seattle on Monday night in Seattle. I’m considering going down for the game.

I’m going to enjoy watching football on Sundays since I have lost interest in games happening on Saturdays. It’s going to be an enjoyable year watching both of Fowler’s studs (O’Brien and Sendek) be released of their duties at season’s end.

I was and I guess still am a Cowboys fan. I pulled for them when they stunk latter half of the 80’s and could tell you everybody’s name offense and defense in the early half of the nineties. Then Jerry Jones really got involved in Al Davis fashion and I just haven’t pulled for them at all. In fact I had wuit watching the NFL until my brother-in-law drug me into fantasy football. Now I know who the majority of the skill players are. Fantasy football has made the NFL een more of an economic juggernaut but there is just something wrong with being more interested in individuals’ stat than the outcome of your favorite team. Well, maybe if Jerry ever succombs and gets out of the picture and the Cowboys can be relevant again, I will re-develop more interest in them.

Oh, I’m ready all right! Ready for real games that matter. Ready to see RW under center in Seattle. Ready to see Peyton back in action in Denver. Ready to see my Panthers (hopefully) take that next step into the playoffs. Going to be a fun year!

NO! I hate what the NFL has become almost as much as I hate the NBA. While I support our players who go to these leagues, I still hate the leagues and refuse to watch them for the most part. Unfortunately, I’m moving in that direction with college FB and MBB, particularly as they are “governed” by the NC*AA!

Always glad to have some former Wolfpackers in the NFL; makes things more interesting. I’m real interested to see how RGIII does this season. Can the Skins be good again? Maybe not this year, but if he shows promise as a franchise QB, they’ve taken a huge step toward that possibility. They have some pretty good young players and finally have a go-to receiver not named Santana Moss.

Always interested in former Wolfpack players and hope they do well. Makes things much more interested in the NFL for me. But, I’m really interested in how RGIII will do this year. Can the Redskins finally be good again? Maybe not this year, but I’m at least hoping that they take an important step in that direction. They have some good young talent, especially on D and they finally have a go-to receiver not named Santana Moss.